Generally, embodiments of the present invention related devices for administration of a therapeutic agent (e.g., medicament, drugs, saline, etc.) to a particular part of a patient's body.
One example of targeted delivery to a part of a patient's body is the eye using a contact lens.
The most common treatment for various eye conditions is through topical application of ophthalmic solutions or eye drops. This method of fluid delivery to the eye accounts for 90% of all the ophthalmic medications. This mode of delivery, however, is very inefficient, with sometimes less than 10% absorption in the eye of the medicine from the eye drops. It would be beneficial to be able to deliver ophthalmic fluids and medications more precisely and effectively. Drug eluting contact lenses have been explored, but there remains a need for a contact lenses with a simple design, that is able to effectively provide medication and or lubrication to the eye with a controlled flow rate over time.
Beyond direct delivery to the eye, medical treatment often requires the administration of a therapeutic agent (e.g., medicament, drugs, etc.) to a particular part of a patient's body.
As implantable devices of varying sizes, dosing requirements, and implant locations become available, the reliable delivery of drugs/fluids over long periods of time (i.e. daily, bi-weekly or monthly dosing over two or more years become progressively complicated.
Existing medical equipment actuation and metering systems would be difficult, if not impossible, to miniaturize into a scale that is implantable or that can fit into a contact lens. Most actuation and metering systems require a variety of power sources, electrical systems, and other hardware to function properly. Further, their function often depends on materials that are not biocompatible, for example rare earth metal magnets for motors and solenoids. Static friction, or “stiction,” of mechanical elements is also different at smaller scales than it is on a macroscopic scale.
The functionality of many slow response actuation systems (i.e. electro-osmosis electrolysis) based pumps are limited in the fact that for temporally separated doses, each successive dose requires more time and/or power to complete. That is, slow response actuation systems require electrical power over long periods of time—electrical power that drains batteries.
As such, there is a need in the art for improved approaches to targeted drug delivery both in a patient's eye and elsewhere in the body.